More than one million people per year are being referred by GPs to social prescribing services, according to a new study.
A new study published in The Lancet Public Health, led by authors from the Department of Behavioural Science and Health at University College London (UCL), estimates that 1.3 million people were referred to social prescribing services by their GP in 2023 alone, with 5.5 million GP consultations including social prescribing referrals since the scheme started in 2019 [1]. This far exceeded the initial NHS goal for 900,000 people to be referred by 2023/4.
Through social prescribing, patients are usually referred to a Social Prescribing Link Worker, who has time to explore the social factors affecting a person’s health – including loneliness, isolation and problems with debt and housing – and connect them to support in their community. This could include activities such as exercise, volunteering, arts and culture, counselling, befriending, training courses, housing support, benefits and employment advice.
Social prescribing was introduced as part of English national health policy in 2019, and the paper shows that services have grown rapidly over five years. More than 3,300 link workers are now employed across the country [3].Â
This study is the first paper to be published as part of the National Centre for Social Prescribing Data and Analysis, a partnership between the National Academy for Social Prescribing and University College London (UCL), which aims to improve analysis of patient records and support more data-driven social prescribing.
The paper analysed primary care records from 1.2 million patients from 1,736 practices in the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) in England. Data was then extrapolated to represent all GP practices in England [5].
Professor Daisy Fancourt, senior author for the paper and Director of the National Centre for Social Prescribing Data and Analysis, said: “This paper provides the first detailed estimates of the scale and reach of social prescribing across England, demonstrating the programme has generated 5.5 million referrals over 5 years, with 1.3 million people referred in 2023 alone, far exceeding its intended patient numbers. This underlines what a fundamental and important service social prescribing now is within the NHS.”
The new NHS Plan highlights the need to join up the NHS with services like debt and housing advice, and to create much better connections with local charities and community groups. Social prescribing is already playing a key role in this, and we look forward to building on this.
Link workers deal with the complicated, knotty problems that have such a big impact on our health, whether that’s sleepless nights and headaches because of debt, or depression and loneliness after a bereavement. They will be a pivotal part of neighbourhood health teams.
The analysis also showed:
- Growing numbers of referrals from more deprived areas Year on year, there was an increase in GP referrals to social prescribing among people in the most deprived areas. Representation from patients in more deprived areas increased from 23% prior to the 2019 national roll-out to 42% in 2023. Previous research from UCL, which looked at referrals not just from GPs but from social care, voluntary organisations and other sources, showed that people from the most deprived areas were accessing social prescribing even more than people from more affluent areas. [6]
- Higher proportions of referrals for patients from an ethnic minority As of 2023, 23% of social prescribing patients were from an ethnic minority group. This supports previous research from the Race Equality Foundation, which showed higher proportions of social prescribing referrals for those from Black, Asian and minoritised ethnic communities compared to their population. [7]
A recent national evaluation of the roll-out of social prescribing suggested that link workers benefit patients in a range of ways, supporting people with their mental health and with long-term conditions and helping them feel more aware of support available in their community. It concluded that employing link workers “was associated with improved outcomes for individuals specifically targeted for social prescribing and had spillovers through improving overall patient experience with general practice." [8]
Separate research by the National Academy for Social Prescribing has suggested that social prescribing can lead to reductions in unnecessary GP appointments, A&E attendances and hospital admissions, and save costs for the NHS. [9]
Notes to editors
[1] The total number of referrals over five years includes patients who were referred to social prescribing more than once.
[2] Universal Personalised Care: Implementing the Comprehensive Model (2019) included the goal of 900,000 people being referred to Social Prescribing Link Workers by 2023/4 universal-personalised-care.pdf.
[3] Primary Care Workforce_collated_FTE_June_2025.xlsx
[4] “Social prescribing discussions” includes referrals to social prescribing, signposting to social prescribing services, reviewing social prescribing plans and closing or completing social prescribing cases, among others.
[5] There were 6,311 GP practices in England in 2023
[6] Pioneering insights into social prescribing pathways - SBRG
The National Academy for Social Prescribing
 The National Academy for Social Prescribing was established as a charity in 2019 to champion social prescribing. Our work includes: 
- Connecting the social prescribing system, through training, consultancy and resources. 
- Creating innovative partnerships, from local to international.  
- Boosting investment for frontline organisations delivering social prescribing. 
- Building the evidence base. 
- Raising the profile of social prescribing.
